From Minority Voice To Lasting Change In California Schools

Change doesn’t arrive with a hashtag; it arrives with a name on a ballot, a calm voice at a microphone, and a chair at the school board table. We sit down with Joe Messina—who spent twenty-four years in the trenches of a California district—to unpack how a lone dissenting vote became a durable majority that actually moves policy. From pulling back the curtain on graphic curriculum to establishing clear flag policies and defending parental notification, Joe shows how local courage scales when it’s anchored in law, civics, and community.

You’ll hear how a trades education fight led him into public service, why he lost twice before winning, and what changed once he was inside the room. We dig into the practical: reading questionable passages aloud to force transparency, leaning on legal allies to set guardrails, and equipping students to assert their rights without picking unnecessary fights. Joe’s approach is simple and repeatable—fill the room with thoughtful supporters, speak to policy not people, and keep going when the vote goes the wrong way. Over time, those habits flipped the dynamic: parents felt represented, students felt backed, and administrators learned that neutrality isn’t optional.

We also explore the role of civic training and historical literacy in shaping arguments that stand up under pressure. Quoting Franklin’s call to prayer as history, not ceremony. Clarifying privacy and fairness in locker rooms without turning up the heat. Building TPUSA clubs so students know the rules and use them well. It’s a masterclass in steady, local leadership that protects kids and restores trust.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your school board comment, yard sign, or volunteer hour matters, this conversation will recharge your resolve. Subscribe, share this with a neighbor who cares about schools, and leave a review with the one local action you’re taking this month.

Chapters

• 0:07 Victories After Long Fights
• 0:38 Twenty Years Of Local Organizing
• 1:11 Tease: Joe Messina Joins
• 1:24 Break And History Moment
• 2:24 Introducing Joe Messina
• 3:19 From Minority To Majority
• 5:04 Boston Roots And Love Of History
• 6:56 Why Run For School Board
• 8:24 Losing Twice, Winning The Third Time
• 9:04 Developing A Biblical Worldview In Office
• 10:27 Early Fights Over Inappropriate Books
• 12:01 Attacks, Smears, And Staying Joyful
• 13:29 Building Community Support And Presence
• 15:04 WallBuilders And Civic Training Impact
• 16:25 Student Courage And TPUSA Clubs
• 17:36 Tough Issues: Gender Policy And Flags
• 19:20 Legal Strategy And Practical Wins
• 21:05 Advice For Lone School Board Members
• 22:34 Perseverance And Calm Advocacy
• 24:02 Closing Encouragement To Engage

Transcript

Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of Faith and Culture. Thanks for joining us on the WallBuilders Show. Rick Green here with David and Tim Barton. And we said yesterday, we mentioned the fact that Joe Messina was on the school board in a California school district and had spent multiple decades in that fight, and they now have a majority. Well, guess what? We're going to have Joe with us a little later in the program. Guys, always good to hear these stories where the victory finally comes. I know we're supposed to be willing to fight our whole life, even if we don't get to see any of the victories, but I love getting to see the victories. I just got to admit it. 

David Barton [00:00:38] Yeah, it is really good to get these victories. And these are victories that really started back with Jack Hibbs Church and and that particular part of California working to get these victories twenty years ago. And so now they're enjoying some of the fruits of twenty years of labor, which is a good lesson for everybody. That you just because you don't win the first time or the second time or the third time, you you don't quit. And just because you get in there, you don't think that because you won it's going to be easy. And and that's Joe's been through all that, and now they're they're really turning out some great victories. So this is gonna be a really fun story. 

Rick Green [00:01:10] All right, well, we're gonna take a break really early here and jump over to Joe Messina joining us. Stay with us, you're listening to the WallBuilders Show. 

Rick Green [00:02:24] Welcome everybody. Joe Messina, my special guest tonight, because we were together at the same place we were together, what, five years ago, filming Biblical Citizenship at Rob McCoy's church. And those of you that are are listening or watching, you might remember in week eight of Biblical Citizenship, Joe joins me on stage with Scarlett and Ken, and we talk about action steps. And at the time, Joe was on the school board in the minority fighting every day. And unfortunately, just like when I was in the minority in the Texas legislature, I fought most days I lost. Once in a while I got a victory, but most days I lost. And anyway, so Joe and I were reminiscing out in the hallway and said, we got to catch up on air. So, man, welcome to welcome to the program. Thanks for coming on. 

Joe Massina [00:03:07] Well, I'm I I'm honored and glad to be here. I try to catch you most of the time, but my show's six to nine, so it's kinda tough. I have to go back and get the repeat. 

Rick Green [00:03:16] I hear you, man. I hear you. Well, let me just first say thank you for staying in the fight for so long, for being on the front lines. You know, you like I mentioned when I ever said to anybody to flee California, Rob McCoy slapped me upside the head and said, Stop being a weenie and and stay in the fight. And you've been one of those guys that's never wussed out and just man, defeat after defeat after defeat in elections and then win elect lose elections, win elections. I've been there. You know, get on the school board and have to be the one voice out of the whole school board for years. Then you finally get another ally and then and you told me Saturday night that you now have four votes, you have a majority on the school board. So this is massive. I mean, twenty something years you've been fighting for this. 

Joe Massina [00:04:03] Oh, and you know what, Rick, it's it's amazing to watch it. We don't have enough time, but to watch it go down play by play. I mean, I had a woman on the board that got this big gold cross on her neck, and every time she'd show up, and yet she was the most anti-Jesus person I know. She didn't want she didn't want Christian counselors on on campus, so many other things. And then there was a gay fellow married to another gay fellow here in California with two kids. He got knocked he got voted on the board and it knocked off one of the only other Christians we had on the board. We're while we're in California. And I'm like, what God, what am I doing here? What do you what's the plan? Like, give me give me a half a page. Let me know what's happening. But anyhow, we drove him out with prayer and standing strong. And we got a good solid Christian. You met her. Her name is Erin Wilson, and she had she said she said hi to you there at the event. 

Rick Green [00:05:04] She did, yeah. I got Talk to her after the service. Yeah. And and wait, before we go any further, I know we have listeners that may not have heard you when you were on before that are confused right now because we said you're from California and yet you sound unlawful like you're like you're from Philly or somewhere like that. So. 

[00:05:21] I thought we were friends. Are you for real? Boston. Me, Boston. I'm interested in Boston. What am I saying? Oh What an insult. What a sins. You should be excited. I grew up a block and a half from the old North Church. I used to hide in Copshow Cemetery and scare the little kids on Halloween. I grew up in history. 

Rick Green [00:05:41] You must have been super excited Saturday when I was telling the story of doctor Joseph Warren then. That must have been like you're going you you were you're like Horseshack going me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Oh, you wanted you wanted to the the to come up and help me tell the story I bet. No that yeah, sorry, so sorry about that. But I know people are thinking he doesn't sound like he's from California. So yeah, from Boston, grew up around all that history. Did you like history when you were growing up? I mean like you're right there in the middle of it. It's sometimes hard to appreciate it when you grow up around it.

Joe Massina [00:06:09] No, you know what? I I didn't really get it. I mean, I'm here I am growing up in the streets of Boston. Yeah, there's old buildings, old wharfs, that old church that they had. Paul Rivere's house looked like it should have been moved along a hundred years ago. So you you're right. You don't really get it. You won't really appreciate it. I'll tell you what I did appreciate it though. My mom moved us out to Milton, Massachusetts, and my my history teacher in high school had a monotone voice. So figure that one out. But he was so good at explaining, explaining the the little wars that they had and how they moved around inside the city and outside of the city. It excited me so much. That's what I really got turned on, to history. 

Rick Green [00:06:50] No kidding. All right. So, so you grew up right there in the heart of it all. End up in California. You were you were already before you ran for school boards, you you were already sort of an activist, right? I mean, like you this was pre tea party, because I think you told me Saturday 2001 was the first time you really got it started, you know, looking at school board. 

Joe Massina [00:07:10] Yeah, what so I was going to the school board. I look at I didn't know anything about politics. I could have cared less at that time, right? And so I went to the school board. I was trying to get them to put the career tech education programs back in. You know, coming from Boston, you, you know, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, you've got them all all around you. So they were closing them down here. So I started fighting at the school board level, and I was getting nowhere. I felt like I was getting flipped off in public, you know? And finally, that's when I decided. My wife says, hey, do something about it. You know, our joke around here is get off the couch, drooling all over yourself, and do something about it. So I did. Right. I ran and lost. I ran again and I lost. And a third time she looked at me and said, Are you sure this is from God? I said, Look, my job from a friend of mine I heard years ago is to get up and you go ahead and you do what you're supposed to do, and God's responsible for the outcome. And so Buck McKeon, I don't know if you remember him, the congressman from California, very powerful congressman, threw everything he could at me in that third election to keep me out, and I won. And I beat the person that he got behind and put a lot of money behind. 

Rick Green [00:08:20] Third time. So you so you I didn't remember this part. So you ran twice and lost, came back, ran the third time and won. What year what year was that? How long ago was that? 

Joe Massina [00:08:29] Oh god, that had to be a one three five seven is when I got finally got in. 

[00:08:34] '07. '07. So man. So even then you get on, you're I guess at that point one vote. I mean i and and even then a and this may not be fair to you, so so please correct me if I'm wrong. I bet you were still even developing some of your worldview and perspective and and you're it's kinda like you get hit with all this stuff and these new issues that you hadn't dealt with in the past. Or did you kind of already have a a solid biblical worldview and already have studied a lot of this stuff? 

Joe Massina [00:09:04] No, I hadn't studied a lot of this stuff. I knew that we had a responsibility. How I knew that God got a you know, the Holy Spirit probably poured it into my head, but I knew we had obligation to take care of the things that God gave us, and I knew that God gave us government and I knew that God allowed us to to govern ourselves, if you would, through elections. I didn't really take that into the into the board or into what I was doing at first. When I first got on the board and I started to see, you know, the the the saying in the behind closed doors is it's for the kids. It's for the kids. Well, I learned pretty quick, it had nothing to do with the kids. And when I started seeing the books they were pushing through, that was when my my my belief in Christ started to boil up and I go, Wait a minute, we can't subject the kids to this. We can't let them do this. We shouldn't do that 

Rick Green [00:09:51] It wasn't your spidey senses that were tingling, your spidey senses weren't Tingling, your Holy Spirit senses were tingling. 

Joe Massina [00:09:56] Bingo. And in my vernacular, the Holy Spirit kept slapping me upside the head and going, Hey, hey, right there. Look at that. You gotta stop that. Well the scene is a little thick. 

Rick Green [00:10:08] Yeah, interesting too because because that would have been honestly before most people were paying attention to it to it. So that would have been honest that that would have been before most people were paying attention to the textbook issue and just recognizing that a lot of this junk was getting put into the schools. Cause I mean, really, you didn't hear a lot of people talk about that until three, four, five years ago. So you're you're hitting that stuff ten years ago. 

Joe Massina [00:10:31] Yeah, and we were hitting it. The first book that I came against was a book that had descriptive rape scene in it. Figure that one out. And I had a mom come to me and say, Are you, are you good with this, Mr. Messina? I said, Well, I don't even know what you're talking about. So I read it and I went, okay, this is this is bad. So when we got into the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, Is this really age appropriate? And I had teachers telling me that I was out of line because they were teachers, they were educators, they knew it was right for your kid. And I was the first guy to crack that book open and start reading it. And you everybody at the place, Oh, hey, what are you doing? You know, I mean that that's well, wait a minute, this is for our kid, right? This is junior high school kid. I'm an old guy. What's the problem? There shouldn't be an issue. 

Rick Green [00:11:15] And how dare you, as this elected school board member, elected to run the school district, how dare you question those those teachers. The teachers. And still like that. So I bet they came after you in the next election. 

Joe Massina [00:11:29] Rick, you don't have enough time. They have thrown everything at me. They have put up false things about me. In the last election, they ran around and they put these big signs, they're probably like thirteen by nineteen, over my signs that said parents against Joe Messina. And they started a Twitter against Joe Messina. And I've had a lot of fun with it though. I've learned you can't you can't fix stupid. You can't beat up stupid. That doesn't work either apparently. You you just gotta kinda look and smile and keep moving forward. 

Rick Green [00:12:01] Well, there's so many things I wanna ask you and and you have a joy about you despite all of these attacks. How do you do that? How do you stay in that count it all joy when you experience various trials mindset? 

Joe Massina [00:12:15] Well, first of all, it's cliche to say it, but it's true, right? It's the joy of the Lord that keeps us going, is it not? So it's the joy of the Lord. And I know that ultimately I have to look in the face of the Lord and and and I don't want him saying to me, I gave you that seat, I gave you the power you needed. What did you do? Mm-hmm. Yeah. I want I want to be Peter. I want to okay, you went a little too far, but God I I know I know why you did it and I love you for it. So that's what I want to be. Wait, you wanna you want to chop somebody's ear off? Is that what you're saying? Yeah, basically, yes. And I'm from Boston, so I'm good at it. 

Rick Green [00:12:49] Okay, so let's let's walk me back down the timeline again. Okay, so you run twice, you lose, you win the third time, you get in, you're kind of you know, don't really have a team, you don't have a lot of other people with you. You go through all these different victories and losses of people that hopefully would be with you, then you know, you get crazy people, you don't get to a majority until just recently. And that I mean, if we put that whole thing on the timeline, that's twenty four years, man. Twenty four years. That I and I and I I emphasize that 'cause I want people to recognize this stuff takes time and you're you are investing in a generational fight. So the th the fight you've been fighting for twenty four years is for now multiple generations of kids. So this is gonna be a fifty year payoff what you're doing, but it took multiple decades and we are so immediate gratification and we give up so fast. Most people in one election give up. You've been through what seven, seven or eight elections? 

Joe Massina [00:13:50] Our elections aren't inexpensive for a little quote unquote little town like us. I've got to raise sixty, seventy thousand dollars to run. And It's really big money. 

Rick Green [00:14:01] Yeah. Yeah. To do it over and over and over and over again and constantly have that that kind of opposition. Help me help me speak to people out there right now that that do want to give up, that that just feel like it's all for naught and and it's, you know, it's too it's Trump's not doing enough or my legislature's too bad or my whatever, that whatever the particular area is, local, county, state, federal, and maybe they've been in the fight for twenty years and they're not yet seeing the results they want. What do you say to them? 

[00:14:32] So, first I'm gonna give you my spiritual answer, right? Thank God that when Jesus was being whipped, he didn't throw his hands up and go, Okay, oh. 

Rick Green [00:14:38] Amen. 

Joe Massina [00:14:39] Enough, I'm done. Yeah. Okay. You guys are on your own because I know it ain't gonna go. No. Bless God. That's one of the things that keeps circling around in my head. I'm not doing this for Joe. I'm doing it for for His kids. You know, Jesus said, you know, send the little kids unto me. Not all screwed up and not indoctrinated. So we have a job to do. We're all different parts of the body. And you're right. I my wife will tell you there's some nights I came home and I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing here. I can't get anything done. They all think I'm crazy. And, you know, what are we really getting accomplished? So you remember when the Katie Hill thing went down? 

Rick Green [00:15:14] Yeah. Oh yeah. 

Joe Massina [00:15:15] Okay. They came up in big numbers to get rid of me. They wanted me to turn myself into the police and leave the board and all the other stuff. But I gotta tell you, there's a few people who came up..... 

Rick Green [00:15:32] Just real quick. Joe, for our listeners who don't remember that, this is the congresswoman thant had an affair with a staff member. I mean I don't even know how much detail we have 

Joe Massina [00:15:36] My first introduction to what a thruple was, but that's beside the point. 

Rick Green [00:15:39] Well Now we're really educated You're educating me. What is a throuple? I don't No, she was not going there. 

Joe Massina [00:15:46] She was married to a guy and there was a woman involved who was like the third person in the marriage. No, no, no. If I had to put up with it, you gotta. 

Rick Green [00:15:54] So so is that is that considered polyamorous because I have heard that term. Or does polyamorous you gotta have five or more. I mean, hey guys like you and me and the Barton's and everybody we warned 25 years ago we said if you redefine marriage anything goes they're gonna start throwing cats and dogs in there too which they are now with furries. But anyway, you were literally dealing with a member of Congress in that kind of a scandal. Go ahead. 

Joe Massina [00:16:20] Okay, yeah. So you know, people but then I started I never stopped poking away at our Christian friends, our conservative friends, and saying, You have to come out. Just because you voted for me doesn't mean you won. I've got people coming at me. I need you, as you always say, we're a representative government. If I've got 70 people there saying, Yes, I want boys and girls' rooms, and I haven't got anybody from our side in there, what do I do? I mean, I know what the right thing to do is, but I represent the voters. I represent the people. Yeah, exactly. And you know what, Rick? Over the I don't know, four or five years had very little. Then they started to show and they started to show and they started to show. And now I can fill that room with fifty or sixty people. Okay. And coming up and speaking. 

Rick Green [00:17:06] I gotta selfishly ask how much did WallBuilders and Patriot Academy and the and the classes and just kind of being able to get people involved, did that help at all? I can't I honestly don't remember how much of that. But you've got your own radio show and you and so you've been you you're building up an audience and you're you're able to motivate people through that show on a regular basis. So I you know, I genuinely don't know if our stuff has been a big part of that or not. I just want to ask. 

Joe Massina [00:17:28] You know, it's funny you should say that because I tell people about Wall Builders and Patriot Academy all the time. And I say, look, about seventy percent of what I do now, I got I got the information, the foundation from the Biblical Citizenship class. And WallBuilders. And when you came out and did the what is it, the the frame, the framers? I mean the the founders for I mean all that stuff and understanding what we can. Look, I go out there and you know this once a year we have bring your bible to school. That's on a Thursday. Our board meetings are on a Wednesday night. Well, I took my Bible to the board meeting. And I actually recited a prayer by Benjamin Franklin, right, our least religious founder. When they tried to stop me, I said, Whoa, whoa, whoa. I have the right to repeat the prayer of one of our founding fathers. I'm not praying, I'm just telling you what he said. Yeah. And we shouldn't be ashamed and you kids. Don't be ashamed of this. Don't be ashamed to live out your faith. And I gotta tell you, Rick, the real heartwarming part of this is when I run into kids, look, I'm the old guy. Nobody's gonna walk up to me for no reason. I see some of these kids out in the community and they'll walk over and they'll say, you know what? Thank you for sticking up for us. They thank you for being there for us because we don't know who to turn to. Yeah. So I've been able to build up we we I've helped start a couple of the TPUSA clubs here in town where the principals were kind of pushing back and I tell the TPUSA kids, I want you to write an email to the principal, explain to them your rights, and copy me. That way it lets them know somebody's paying attention. 

Rick Green [00:19:14] Oh, that's good. That's good. And that's I mean, and that's to have a TPUSA chapter in in a California school district like that, that's that that is probably tough and and you need You they the kid needs to know they've got somebody like you backing 'em up. What is what would you say are some of the toughest issues you're dealing with on the school board right now? 

Joe Massina [00:19:36] It's the stuff you hear about on a regular basis. All that political correctness stuff about you know, transgenderism and  parents the teachers can't tell the parents that their kid is transitioning. Now I'll tell you the beauty behind that. Another thing This teamwork is required. You and I both know Brad Dakis for Pacific Justice. Yeah. So I get a hold of Brad and I say, okay, what can I say? Where can I go? What's the boundaries? And how much bail money do you have for me in case I step over the line? He's been a fantastic help because we have been able to push back. I had one woman who who didn't couldn't get any help from anybody on the board, and then she came to me. Her daughter was being socially transitioned. And we were able to stop it because she came to me, able to get Brad involved. We we stopped that process. So we're dealing with that. We're dealing with kids who really the the the gay, not even transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, whatever the other 29 designations are. We're dealing with that in the school because the teachers are are wanting that to happen. They're wanting to teach the kids about that. And the best one we just dealt with is the flag policy. We were able to remove now, I'm in California, we were able to remove all the gay pride flags from the classroom. No kidding. What? Yeah, it was a little foreign there, but it we've made it happen. So 

Rick Green [00:21:01] Wow. Can we replace them with an Appeal to Heaven flag? Can we go that far? I'm not. I'd love it, but you know. 

Joe Massina [00:21:08] Rick, I wear my I wear my American flag and my Christian flag pin on my suitcoat. And there's been twice now that somebody has come up and said, You can't wear that. Yeah, there's a separation of church and state. 

Rick Green [00:21:21] Would you speak to other people running for school board or on school boards that feel like they're, you know, one against six or whatever their situation is, give them an encouragement as well. 

Joe Massina [00:21:33] Look, first of all, start every meeting with a prayer. Ask God for guidance and listen. That's number one. Number two is don't give up. You got God on your side, so don't give up. When you get in there, you know what's right. Seek godly wisdom. Like I said, I got a great foundation from WallBuilders, the Patriot Academy, classes that Rick put out. And then I've got legal I've got legal support, if you would. And no matter if the other four kept saying no, I kept looking across at them and saying, Hey, you mean to tell me you really have a problem with us putting up curtains so that the girls can change in the in their locker rooms without the boys seeing them and vice versa. Really? Stay with it, but don't be argumentative. Don't don't be nasty when you put it out there. Just be matter of fact and simply don't give away. 

Rick Green [00:22:21] Amen. Amen. Okay. All of our WallBuilders, folks out there, stay with us. We'll be back in a moment with David and Tim Barton. 

Rick Green [00:23:34] Welcome back to the WallBuilder Show. Thanks to Joe Messina for joining us. And guys, I, you know, I guess we've been doing this. How long? When did you start wall builders, David? Was that 87? 88. And I always forget. 

David Barton [00:23:44] September of 87. 

Rick Green [00:23:46] September of 87. So we're we're getting close to 40 years. Not 30 years. 40 years. And the fruit has man, we're seeing it all over the nation. I mean, those seeds you started planting, you and Cheryl way back then. And then of course Tim and I came along much, much later because we're so much younger. Okay, so Tim's younger. All right. But so I've been in the fight 30 years, and and Joe's talking 24 years he was working on on the you know the school board there and getting things changed, and of course now he has radio programs. So it takes time, guys. We have to be willing to stay in the fight. 

David Barton [00:24:22] Yeah, you know, the thing Jo Joe was talking about you know, not having won the first time or the second time and third time, this guy puts all sorts of money against him. And you know, somehow Christians just don't seem to expect that in America, and that is such a crazy position to take. I we've mentioned in recent programs how there's a hundred and ninety eight nations in the world and a hundred and ninety-two nations actively persecute Christians. We're one of only six nations that doesn't. We act surprised when people say and do bad things about us. And you gotta remember Jesus says, Blessed are you when all men speak evil of you and I mean that's just that's normal. But we get in there, we have victories, things change, we win, people like it, they get behind it. It's just not easy to get there. And Joe hung in there for all that time and got there. And it's just a good lesson for everybody that just 'cause you run and don't win doesn't mean you get out of it. And just 'cause people are hostile to you doesn't mean you shouldn't get in it. That's where you're needed the most. 

Tim Barton [00:25:18] Yeah, and I also appreciated that he pointed out kind of the idea, don't get emotional limits of confrontation and arguments. And because when you are defending truth, there are people that are going to be emotional. We know oftentimes because for many of these arguments, there's not a logical argument on the other side. So it's going to become an ad hominem attack. And yet the reminder is make sure you stay focused on the argument. Matter of fact, not emotional in the midst of this. What we need is rational, calm, collected, truth, filled with grace. And in the midst of that, what we have seen from Joe is his perseverance, his consistency. God has given him favor, and it's incredible what is going on right now. 

Rick Green [00:26:06] Well, and our you know, of course, our prayer is that people will hear this today and say, All right, I can stay in the fight a little longer, or I'm ready to get in the fight and I recognize what's ahead of me. So we want to encourage everybody, get in that fight and whatever it is that he's called you to. And it's different for everybody. We're not expecting everybody to go run for the school board, but maybe God's calling you to that. Maybe it's just you know, do a constitution class at your church, or or maybe it's just a share the WallBuilders program to start becoming one of those keyboard warriors where you're literally sharing posts on a regular basis and and and you're getting engaged in some of those conversations. But whatever it is, get out there, be active, and stay the course. Thanks for listening to the WallBuilders Show.